Paul McCarthy

Paul McCarthy’s butt plugs continue to spark outrage in Paris. Erected in Paris’s upmarket Place Vendôme this Thursday as part of the FIAC art fair, the giant green plug titled “Tree” enraged a passerby Thursday so much that he slapped McCarthy three times. Now, after protestors cut several ropes holding the plug up, FIAC has deflated the piece.

By now, you’ve heard the news: 69-year-old artist Paul McCarthy was attacked in Paris yesterday while installing “Tree,” a giant inflatable butt plug at Place Vendôme. The piece is part of FIAC’s “Hors Les Murs” program and was evidently an offense to an unknown assailant because it does not belong at the Place Vendôme—and because McCarthy is not French. News that the sculpture’s title did not match its function has been the subject of much press giggling.

Looks like Pearl Paint on Canal Street could be shuttering. The building is on the market for $15 million and the store is hosting a 30% off sale. [Gothamist]

Tomorrow is Saturday, but not just any ordinary Saturday. It is also a day for two holidays: “Slow Art Day,” where you’re recommended to spend at least 10 minutes with a work of art, and “Grilled Cheese Day,” which is self-explanatory. [Grilled Cheese Day, Slow Art Day]

A great art-nerd piece! Jasper Johns, 83, made a rare New York appearance to testify against Brian Ramnarine, a native of Guyana charged with trying to sell a fake Johns sculpture for $11 million dollars. [The Awl]

Kunsthalle Zürich Director Beatrix Ruf has accepted a new position. Ruf, ranked seventh on this year’s Power 100 list, will move on to direct the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, the largest museum of modern and contemporary art in the Netherlands. [e-flux]

The Guggenheim Bilbao doesn’t like the mural Mike Bouchet and Paul McCarthy made for their museum. It’s a caricature of the Guggenheim as an upside-down battleship. Needless to say, Guggenheim bureaucrats don’t understand satire; they want the artists to take it down. [The Daily Beast]

Big news for SF MOMA: The museum is going to build the largest exhibition gallery for photography. That space, the John and Lisa Pritzker Center for Photography, will open in 2016. [SFMOMA]

We’re back! It’s been a while since we’ve given you a “We Went To,” but here we are to tell you about the best and worst of what’s on view on the Upper East Side. One fact became clear on this trip: John Baldessari has made a career out of oxymorons.

Collector Charles Saatchi has announced he will divorce his wife Nigella Lawson three weeks after having been photographed with his hands around her throat. [The Guardian]

The Royal Ballet of Canada has been accused of unfairly firing an aspiring ballet star for participating in porn movies. [CBC]

Roberta Smith thinks “Life Cast,” by Paul McCarthy, featuring four sculptures and process videos, has been overlooked. [The New York Times]

Paul McCarthy’s “WS” at the Park Avenue Armory is already the art institution’s second most attended exhibition. Not bad for a show that contains nudity, faked violence and explicit sexual acts. Apparently this is attracting the young’ns. [The New York Times]

Paul McCarthy’s multimedia installation at the Park Avenue Armory. Image via: Suzanne DeChillo/The New York Times

Boo. The Met Museum is getting rid of their tin admission buttons in favor paper ticketing. Also, starting next week they’ll also be open seven days a week. This puts their hours in line with MoMA’s, which are also new. A new calendar for the city’s major museums? [The New York Times]

A condescending op-ed piece by Blake Gopnik about the April 25th reversal of a lower court’s decision on the Patrick Cariou vs Richard Prince copyright suit. The story’s three months old, but I guess it’s never too late for outrage. There’s also some questionable speculation that The Whitney’s recent retrospect of appropriation artist Sherry Levine included very few works of appropriation because the museum was concerned about copyright images. [The Art Newspaper]

A specialized Italian art theft police force uncovered a treasure trove of 3rd and 2nd century BCE Etruscan artifacts that had been illegally excavated a few years ago and have since been circulating on the black market. [NYTimes]

South Street is getting a brand new mall and possibly a luxury hotel. Meanwhile, the South Street Seaport Museum, the cultural touchstone and steward of the area, is currently closed and needs $22 million to reopen. Who is helping South Street Seaport Museum? A great piece by artist Michelle Vaughan. [The Medium]

Holland Cotter isn’t quite sure what Paul McCarthy’s exhibition at The Park Avenue Armory is communicating, but he identifies themes of lost innocence and describes him as a Jonathan Swift or Hieronymus Bosch of our time. [NYTimes]